The End
by McMagicG12
Summary: This is likely the longest one-shot I've written. It's my take on the end of the series, and it's a bit darker than other things I've written. The final battle and the aftermath. Warnings: Some language, graphic imagery, etc.


Disclaimer: I don't own Takahashi Rumiko's Inuyasha. Honestly, having written this, I think I'm glad for the first time that I don't; I don't know what I would have done with it. Even though it wasn't finished in a way I was satisfied with, it was... what the heck do you say about it except awesome?

AN: Wow, this is a good bit darker than most of the stuff I've ever written, and it's darker than all the stuff I've posted. Slight language, just Hell and damned. I consider those moderate/mild, but, if you don't, you've been warned. I wasn't sure how to end it, so, if anyone has any suggestions, I might make another ending.

Warning: Even I was freaked a good bit during, before, and after I wrote this.

Warning #2: No beta. 'Nuff said.

The End.

Kagome's grip tightened on the bow as she lowered it, even though the battle was done. The first of many tears slipped out of her eye as Midoriko reached out to her, but Kagome jerked away, turning a full 360 degrees to see the damage.

Miroku lay on his back, a hole she couldn't see through his chest that was covered by the dead body of Sango, then Kohaku. Naraku had tried sending poisonous insects, but Miroku had withstood the pain. His next move was to put a tentacle through the already-vulnerable monk, and Sango had gotten there but a minute too late. Now, her head sat at an awkward angle, reminding Kagome of the tentacle's backlash that had snapped her neck. Kohaku, in a fit of rage, had sliced the tentacle with his scythe, screaming about having lost his sister only a day after he got her back. Well, now he was with her again, because the tentacle had been filled with poisonous gas.

Further to that side was Kirara, lying in front of Shippou, both of them uncomfortably still. Shippou, who'd been told to stay away from the battle in Kaede's village, had come running when it was attacked. Naraku's first diversion of many had been dangling Kaede's lifeless body, as if to say that there was nothing left where they'd come from. Kagura, who'd been a trusted informant until her end, had discovered Kagome's origin, and had had her mind picked until there was nothing left except gray mush. That allowed Naraku and Kanna to pay the remaining Higurashi's a visit; Kagome'd almost sealed the well, but she couldn't make herself do it just yet. Now, she didn't know where to go.

The worst of the gore was still to come in the form of the last of the demons: the Western Lord, Naraku, Kouga, and ... Inuyasha. Somehow, Kikyou managed to get herself thrown in here too, but Kagome wasn't really in the right frame of mind to really be picky. Everyone was gone; somehow, feuds didn't matter.

Sesshomaru had been the last to fall. The numerous and mindbogglingly serious wounds covered in numerous poisons and exhaustion taking down the demon lord, his half brother, and the wolf demon after Naraku died. They'd worked together to kill him, having had to put differences aside after they realized that Naraku had even enlisted the powers of Hell to fight with him. Even Sesshomaru's Tensaiga had had little effect; some powers may have bowed to the powers of the sword, but others did not. The Tetsusaiga, Tensaiga, and Kouga's jewel shards had finally managed to work, but at the expense of their wielders' lives.

Kikyou had come as Inuyasha was breathing his last breath, firiing just after Kagome. She had stood in shock as her incarnation followed her shot into the carnage, into the particles of Naraku that were disappating into the air, to Inuyasha as he struggled to remain standing. His half-demon blood had done amazing things, but this was too much for even it. To his credit, no one could ever say that a half-demon could not be as strong as a demon because he lasted longer than Kouga did.

Kouga had turned to Kagome, dying first because he'd jumped headfirst into the battle, disregarding his honor and skills a demon lord for the bravado of a hero. His hand reaching toward her, he died the very dramatic death of a tragic and unrequited lover. Inuyasha watched with a grimace the idiotic wolf prince, before clutching his chest, or what would be it. Naraku, to ensure that he wouldn't be the only one dying, had throughly removed Inuyasha's, among others, entrails. His death was a very painful one, but he'd accomplished his goal because Kagome had only a few scratches and a bruise.

With a calming breath, he fell, feeling no need to try to get up, except when Kikyou came. She was unharmed, but leaned down anyway, fully capable and unable to be stopped. Inuyasha turned his head painfully to Kagome, his mouth and eyes wide as he was dragged to Hell, his hand in the same position Kouga's had been. He'd just lost his first friend, his Kagome.

His soul and hers, well, her spirit, were sucked in the now-twice seen pits of Hell. Kagome, again, was stock-still; this time, however, she couldn't do a thing. He was too weak to fight, as was she. Kikyou had known this, and it seemed Midoriko had too.

"How?" Kagome had trouble forming one word, but her eyes said it all. _How could you allow this to happen? How could you cause all this pain and trouble... just for this?_ Her eyes went down to the jewel, which had pulled itself together in her hand after the battle was over, seeming to sense its new freedom.

"Kagome, it was for the best." The girl's eyes widened, and Midoriko hurried to continue. The girl had raw power, little to no training in control, healing, focusing, or anything, and the worst thing would be to disrupt the continuum. This was already enough of a stretch.

"They were the strongest of the strong, Kagome. They had to battle; it was the best for the universe. You know how there are no demons where you come from? Well, the strongest of demons would have changed that; this had to happen. They would have continued on demonic lines for centuries, and progress in the human world would not hve gone the way it did. There are so many benefi-"

"So?"

"Excuse me?"

"So what? The human world I came from is screwed up. There are fights about everything, there are battles of rights every day, everything's screwed. The world is all going to Hell with humans in charge; with demons, at least we wouldn't have to worry about overpopulation." Kagome's voice had been oddly high at first, but now, it had gone back to normal.

"Kagome, I don't think you understand. This was the best. Now, all you have to do is go home, and time will be perfect. Don't you want a perfect time stream? The loss of a few for the benefit of many; don't you think that's a good idea?" She tried to appeal to the girl's logic, not realizing that Kagome's ire with the 'the best' and 'a perfect time stream' was rising exponentially.

"You mean, you killed them so things would turn out right?"

"Kagome, I didn't kill them. It's in a demon's nature to be destructive and violent."

"What about Rin?" Kagome tried to keep calm, realizing that Midoriko seemed to be the kind of miko she'd avoided becoming.

"That whelp the demon lord took in? Oh, she's just an exception. By the way, would you take her with you? She'll be killed within the week if left here."

"You knew this was going to happen, and you let it happen, so yes, you did effectively kill them. And, Rin is not an exception. She was taken in because she was respectful of Sesshomaru-sama, and there were other demons just as kind. Kouga stopped killing humans because he was fond of me. Doesn't that count for something?" Her voice was eerily calm, and, had he still be living, Kagome could have used this voice on Inuyasha to scare him.

"Of course not. The time stream is perfect, Kagome. You should be happy. Your ancestors will thank you for eliminating the demons that would have terrorized their village, and your family will be safe in the future because only trace amounts of demonic blood will survive the next few centuries. Now, are you going to take Rin or not? I have to figure out what to do with her because she's going to be in danger in this perfect time stream, and she's the only person in the universe who's going to need some extra help. She was actually supposed to die a while back, but that damned demon lord brought her back."

"..." Kagome said nothing for a long time, refusing to correct Midoriko about her family, and finally took a deep breath. "Perfect, eh? Well, I've never been perfect, and I was always told that perfect _doesn't exist_, but I think you're right about one thing, Midoriko. There needs to be something done. Rin can't survive in this perfect time stream, and I worry about that little girl. I'm going... for a walk. Maybe I'll be able to do something else momentous."

Midoriko smiled at the thought that she'd finally gotten through to the stubborn, unpredictable girl. Even she, kami, spirits, and other legendary figures had had trouble predicting what that girl was going to do.

She watched as the girl picked up her arrows, then turned back, worrying about the bodies of her friends. Midoriko waved her hand, allowing divine power to flow through her and watching a hole opened next to each body, sprouting proper grave markers and single flowers near each grave. All she had to do was put them in.

She could've sworn she saw Kagome's face contort into a horrid look, but, as soon as it was there, it was gone, replaced with a hesitant but thankful smile. She hoped that she'd see the same look once the girl had had a moment to digest the happenings of her seventeenth birthday; it wasn't exactly really a nice celebration, but it had to be done.

Kagome walked unsteadily into the forest, and, if she'd actually been thinking clearly, she'd have heard a small _snap_. After a few minutes of walking, she looked back. Seeing nothing, she started to run toward the well. More specifically, a village near it.

- One Hour Later -

Midoriko came back down to Earth, having been sent by the Kami. They'd sensed a disturbance after Midoriko had come back. Kagome had taken too long, so Midoriko left, only after seeing Rin. Rin had come into the clearing less than a half hour after Kagome left, and she'd been upset to say the least. The demon lord was the last to be buried, and Midoriko was finishing the grave of the wolf prince, having taken the time to say the proper prayers, only out of respect for the absent young miko-in-training.

Midoriko was honestly still a bit surprised by how attached the little girl had been to the demon lord, but she supposed she could understand because the girl was too young to properly fear them or to know that her father figure was a coldblooded killer capable of murdering nations. Rin had cried herself to exhaustion, but she'd tried at least a hundred times with the Tensaiga. She'd taken the demonic sword, ignoring the pain washing over her, and taken swipe after swipe at Sesshomaru's chest, crying out to him the whole time. Finally, her little arms were too tired, body too sore, and throat too raw to continue, and she collapsed on his abdomen, passing out.

Midoriko had lifted the little girl carefully, having to fight the girl who reached out and cried in her sleep for her father figure. All the little girl had left in this girl was the little toad demon, Ja-... Midoriko couldn't quite recall the name, but she knew he'd be dead within the hour with no demon lord to revive him.

The western lands too would go all to Hell, in a manner of speaking, without their iron-fisted demon lord, but it was for the best. The demon lord had controlled everything from Kyoto on, and that would need to develop for at least four centuries to be able to survive without him. The demon lord had been surprisingly efficient with infrastructure for the time and the outside workings of the area as well. Now, the central power that separated the country into sections for better rule under leaders like Sesshomaru would be able to reunite the country and properly do its job. Nearly a hundred years from now, Nobunaga was supposed to try to unite the majority of Japan, and, with Sesshomaru, he'd fail much quicker. _Kagome had to know that_, Midoriko thought, as she walked briskly through this village.

The powers, that were her 'bosses' of sorts, had sent her to go check on Kagome because they sensed something strange. Midoriko had immediately left, but, had she stayed a bit longer, she would have known that the problem was not that the _kami_ had actually sensed something strange with Kagome: they'd sensed nothing. Midoriko had landed in a village not far from where the Higurashi shrine was built; Kagome's family had lived in the same general vicinity for centuries.

She finally reached the hut in which Kagome's great, great, ... great-grandfather was due a few weeks from now and opened the door, only to recoil in horror. Kagome's ancestors sat there, arrows pinning them through the chest and stomach to the flimsy wall, their eyes wide and fearful even in death. But that wasn't the horrible part.

There, where the baby's bed was, or had been, was a rip. A slowly growing rip. No one had to tell Midoriko it was in the Stream. The stream they'd worked so hard to preserve had been destroyed by one silly little girl, who couldn't get over the fact that she was a hero. She had been a hero, but she could be one no longer because how could someone who doesn't exist save this world? If she'd never existed, the Shikon would have actually been destroyed, for it could not have clung to the vengeful part of Kikyou's soul. It also would Midoriko looked up as the rip expanded further, seeming to redouble its efforts to suck in things in her presence.

The prefect universe, the perfect time stream, the perfect world, this dimension... all gone.

-A Separate Universe All Together-

Kagome stumbled in her stroll with the group, on the journey for the jewel shards once again, falling to the ground with a gripping pain that wouldn't seem to let go for the longest minute of her life.

"'Re you okay, wench?" Inuyasha stopped, walking with his hands still tucked his sleeves, only his concerned look and crouched stance nearby revealing his concern.

Kagome pushed herself up into a sitting position, shaking her head clear of the odd feelings. "Yeah, I think so. It just felt like I died inside for a second there. Li-like someone ripped my heart out and squashed it." She took a deep breath, looking pensively at her friends, who were now gathered around her (Inuyasha had moved the fastest). "I'm better now, I think." She reached up and hugged Inuyasha, ignoring his protests and completely missing the pinkish tint that brushed his cheeks and the tips of his ears.

"G-g-good." Miroku, Sango, and Shippou snickered at his _smooth-ness_, and the group continued on, blissfully unaware of what could have happened.

-Fin-

AN2: I just realized that I ended mine as 'whatever you'd call something without a real end' as she did. Crap. Well, I hope you liked it and you don't feel like reading this was a major waste of your time.


End file.
